BOU AVENUEMont Saint-HilaireOn the morning of 11 June 2016, I drove
north from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec to the town of Mont-Saint-Hilaire
to spend the day with some friends from Calgary. Aga Sokolowska and
Dorota Sokolowska were in the early stages of a two-month long road trip
across Canada, and they were joined by Daniel Dufresne who flew into
Montreal from Calgary the day before. They were all staying with
friends of Daniel's (Natasha, Eric and their two children) in Mont-Saint-Hilaire,
and we all decided to go for a quick hike up the Montreal suburb's
namesake mountain. Most of Mont Saint-Hilaire is owned by McGill
University which operates a nature reserve on the mountain. Mont
Saint-Hilaire is comprised of several forested peaks which surround a
natural lake, Lac Hertel. The most popular hikes in the area lead
to several of the peaks in the western half of Mont Saint-Hilaire
(admission fee of $6 per adult) while the eastern half is closed to
public access.

Since it was the
weekend, Mont Saint-Hilaire was understandably crowded as we elbowed our
way up a couple of peaks--Rocky and Dieppe--in the northwestern part of
the mountain. All the trails here are generally wide and not too
steep, and there are signs everywhere to point people in the right
direction. We did not linger for long at either peak because of
rainy weather and hordes of people. In fact, we probably spent more
time at the information centre near the trailhead as Aga, Dorota, and
Daniel shopped for maple syrup and maple butter. We
subsequently returned to Natasha's and Eric's house to enjoy a barbeque
lunch, and afterward, we all headed to Montreal to see the Cirque du
Soleil show known as Luzia. After the show, Natasha and Eric took
their children home while Aga, Dorota, Daniel and I capped off our day by
wandering for about three kilometres up Boulevard St-Laurent to get some
smoked meat sandwiches at the famous Schwartz's Deli.

A model of Mont Saint-Hilaire can be
found inside the information centre near the trailhead.

The trees of Mont Saint-Hilaire
provide a protective canopy from both the sun and rain.

Aga is happy to be climbing again even
on a small mountain.

Aga and Dorota stand together near the
summit known as Rocky (403 metres).

Étang Dieppe is a good spot for
sitting and reflection.

The trail to Dieppe summit is quite
rocky near the top.

A clearing near the top of Dieppe
grants this view of Riviere Richelieu.

The next day, 12 June 2016, I drove south to Lake Placid, New
York with plans to climb Mount Marcy. Unfortunately, a steady rain
at the trailhead killed any motivation to carry out these plans, and I
dejectedly turned around and drove back to Canada. The weather was
much better north of the border, and at the last second, I decided to
return alone to Mont Saint-Hilaire for some unfinished business.
After paying $6 again to enter the nature reserve, I first visited Lac
Hertel which was eerily deserted. Granted, I had arrived late in
the afternoon when most other visitors would have gone home, but it was
still nice to enjoy a bit of solitude here. After visiting the
lake, I headed up Pain De Sucre (Sugarloaf) to tag the true high point of
Mont Saint-Hilaire. That was followed by a visit to Burned Hill, probably
the least interesting of all the peaks of Mont Saint-Hilaire. After
that, it was time to go home.

Here is a more comprehensive view of
Mont Saint-Hilaire from the south.

A day later, Sonny is still awed by
the greenery of the forest.

Lac Hertel is a natural lake in the
middle of Mont Saint-Hilaire and was formed by glacial erosion.

Sonny tries out the fixed climbing
rope just below the summit of Pain De Sucre.

Mont Saint-Grégoire is the most
recognizable landmark to the south.

Sonny kneels on top of Pain de Sucre
(413 metres), the true summit of Mont Saint-Hilaire.

The widening of
Riviere Richelieu
at upper left is known as Bassin de Chambly.

Sonny hikes the trail leading to the
summit known as Burned Hill.

Sonny is not impressed with the
viewless summit known as Burned Hill (307 metres).

This is the actual view from a signed
viewpoint just below Burned Hill.